Rumor Has It
by fandm-writer
Summary: Rumors have been spreading through Gotham like wildfire. Rumors that vampires have come to town. However, the most ghastly rumor of all is that the Dark Knight himself has joined the legions of the undead. Is there any truth to these rumors, or are they being helped along by a certain mischievous Ex-Robin? Proceeded and read if you dare.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everyone! This is an early Halloween special. Just a bit of fun inspired by this text post I saw.**

* * *

The GCPD blimp floated in the Gotham sky as Jason Todd sat on a fire escape.

The Red Hood still had a few more hours of patrol, so he had stopped for a 'lunch' break. Jason took a bite of his hamburger and watched as the blimp slowly floated overhead.

He would soon be heading back out, Jason was sure he had plenty of work to do. Especially since Halloween was only a few days away, and it always seemed to have a habit of bringing out the crazy in this town.

Jason continued to eat and contemplate what he would be doing on All Hallows' Eve. Everyone, including Alfred, had been nagging him to go trick-or-treating with his other 'siblings'.

They had somehow gotten him to come the previous year, and the looks on their faces had been worth it. Jason had made them all regret asking, by showing up in a zombie Robin costume.

This year, Jason would be taking a different approach. Well, he and the rest of his siblings. They had all decided to dress up as Batman and possibly go on patrol. It was gonna annoy the crap outta Bruce. So yeah, Jason would definitely be there.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he began to hear movement below him. Silently, Jason leaned forward and peered down at the alley below. It was just a random guy taking a smoke break. After a quick assessment, Jason went back to eating.

The man didn't look shady or threatening and Jason was well concealed in shadows. Besides all that, the Red Hood was confident he could make a silent getaway, should he have to.

After a few moments a second guy showed up. From what Jason could tell, he looked like a construction worker. The two men exchanged a greeting.

Jason was gathering his things to leave when the strangers conversation caught his attention.

"We shouldn't be back here." The Construction Worker said to the Smoking Man.

"What's the matter? You afraid of the dark?" The Smoking Man teased.

"No!" The Worker shot back, "I've just...I've been hearing things lately." He admitted.

"Like what?" The Smoker inquired.

"Well...word on the street is, there's vampires in Gotham." The Construction Worker stated.

"Vampires?" The Smoker echoed, "Are you outta your gourd?" He said, half in disbelief, and half in amusement.

"I know people who have seen some things. It's just weird, man." The Worker argued.

"It's almost Halloween." The Smoking Man exclaimed, taking a puff of his cigarette, "There's costumes everywhere. Don't be ridiculous."

Jason had to mentally agree with the Smoker. This city was full of costumed weirdo's, and not just of the vigilante variety. One time during his tenure as Robin, he and Batman had apprehended three separate criminals dressed as Dracula in one night.

Jason shook his head and quietly put away his food wrapper.

"What, your telling me you've never heard or seen anything weird?" The Worker continued.

"I heard someone say they thought Batman was a vampire once." The Smoking Man replied, "But here's the problem, Lenny. Vampires don't exist."

Jason had to stifle a laugh at that, someone really thought Bruce was a vampire. Oh, this was just too good. Suddenly an idea popped into Jason's head, and a grin split across his face.

Quickly, Jason zipped up his jacket just enough to cover the bat-symbol. That was the beauty of his work uniform, take away the helmet and symbol, he looked pretty normal.

Well...except for the twin holsters, but if he stuck to the shadows they wouldn't notice.

The Smoker put out his cigarette, and the two men began to exit the alley.

Jason took a moment to ruffle his hair and make it look wild and unkept. Then he soundlessly dropped down from the fire escape and into the alley, positioning himself just at the edge of the shadows.

"What you speak is true." Jason exclaimed loudly, remaining in his crouched position.

The two men spun around, 'Lenny' nearly falling over in the process.

"Where the hell did you come from?" The Smoker blurted.

"The Bat is among the legion of the undead!" Jason continued, his tone overly dramatic.

"W...what." Lenny stammered.

"You fools, the signs have always been there." Jason yelled, eyes wild and crazy. "He comes at night, he lurks in the shadows, he's inhumanly fast and strong. He dresses as a Bat, his form of choice."

The duo stood frozen in fear.

"I know his secret. He drinks the blood of the evil and corrupt." Jason continued, "He has many familiars, scattered throughout Gotham."

Lenny and the Smoker looked ready to bolt, and even went as far as to start backing away.

"But one day, one day very soon." Jason straightened to his full height.

The two men took off running before Jason could finish.

"He will feast on the blood of you all!" He called after them as they ran away, practically screaming.

As soon as they were out of sight, Jason let out a laugh he'd been holding. He laughed so hard his stomach hurt and he had to use his knees as support.

After a minute, Jason managed to stop and straightened, taking a breathe.

This was too much fun not to take advantage of. As he climbed back up to the fire escape, a plan began to form in Jason's mind.

He intended to get his money's worth out of his Halloween costume.

* * *

Bruce stumbled into the Manor kitchen and took a seat at the table, running a hand over his face. He still felt groggy despite the fact he'd gotten a full three hours of sleep.

"Good morning, Alfred." Bruce greeted.

"Good morning, Master Bruce." The older man spoke in his usual tone.

A few moments later, Alfred set a cup of coffee in front of Bruce. However, that wasn't the only thing he put down. Along with the drink, Alfred placed what looked to be one of the cheap Gotham tabloids on the table.

Bruce was about to ask him why, when suddenly Alfred ripped the kitchen curtains open, letting the morning light stream in.

Bruce was momentarily blinded and blinked to let his eyes adjust. Alfred glanced at him, gauging his reaction. After a few seconds, the butler spoke.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" He gestured to the tabloid.

Bruce gave Alfred a confused look as he took a drink of his coffee. When Alfred didn't elaborate, Bruce picked up the tabloid.

Sure enough, the front page headline read 'When Undead Bats Attack.' Bruce's eyes grew comedically wide.

Below it was a blurry picture of Batman, except he had fangs and red eyes. Bruce quickly skimmed over the article. Apparently several residents were reportedly chased by Batman, as he attempted to bite them. Some even claimed they had heard him yell, Quote: "I vant your blood."

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and wracked his brain, trying to remember anything unusual from his patrol. He hadn't been bitten by anyone and he wasn't missing any segments of time. There wasn't anything that would denote that it was him in the photo. Batman hadn't even been in the area the picture had been taken. In fact, the only unusual thing he had noticed was that criminals had seemed more afraid of him.

Then suddenly, Bruce realized why Alfred had been acting strange.

"I'm not a vampire." Bruce shot the butler an annoyed look.

"I know, Master Bruce." Alfred replied easily, "I sprinkled a few drops of Holy Water in your coffee." He added.

Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way," Alfred went about his business and began preparing breakfast, "Have you any idea who this seemingly undead imposter is?"

"No." Bruce admitted, looking back down at the picture and studying it.

"But I intend to find out."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! Here is part two, I really really hope guys like it, I think there will be at least one more chapter. Thank you all for reading, please review. :)**

* * *

Batman perched on the edge of a gargoyle, surveying what would be the next part of his patrol route. A stiff breeze swept through the night, ruffling his cape as it did. Batman took the opportunity to leap from his position and glide down to ground level. He would get a better view of that specific area from the streets anyway.

As he moved through the shadows, he couldn't stop his mind from drifting back to the events of the last few days. There had been more sightings of the Vampire Bat, as people were coming to call him.

The most annoying part was that Bruce still had no idea who it was.

So far, the fake hadn't hurt anyone, but Bruce still couldn't have somebody else parading around as Batman and attacking people. He had asked every single one of his family members if they knew anything about it.

After they had finished laughing, they informed him that they did not.

It had been a fight to convince Gordon that he wasn't undead, but he had managed. The police had even tried to catch the imposter during one of his attacks. They had been unsuccessful.

According to one of the officers, the Vampire Bat had used his cape to cover half his face and hissed at them before making his getaway. Bruce shook his head as he recalled all of this. Whoever this was either had a flare for theatrics, or watched too much TV. Or both.

However, there was one thing Batman couldn't deny. He wasn't dealing with an amateur, because he hadn't found a trace. Nobody else had either.

Batman turned his attention back to his patrol, he would have plenty of time to think about this later.

He glanced around as he swept the backstreet he now found himself in. The light from the mounted street lamps reflected off the pavement, illuminating crates, bicycles, and garbage that lined the walls.

As Batman approached, a man leaning against one of the walls came into view. He was looking down and his back was turned, as if he was hiding something. Occasionally, he would glance around suspiciously before going back the whatever he was doing.

Normally, the Dark Knight wouldn't have been all that worried. However, as he watched the stranger, he caught the glint of a knife blade.

Bruce stepped out of the shadows just enough to let the light of the lamps reflect off of the white lenses of his cowl. He couldn't apprehend the man because he wasn't actually doing anything illegal...yet. But be could scare him, which very well might deter him from doing whatever he might be planning.

Batman had remain perfectly silent this entire time. As a result, the man jumped about two feet off the ground when he glanced over his shoulder. As the stranger whipped around, what he had been working on soon became apparent.

The man had been carving a wooden stake. He then dropped the knife he'd been using to whittle it and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a bottle a clear liquid, that The Dark Knight could only guess contained Holy Water.

"Say back!" The man yelled, holding the stake high and the bottle in front of him.

Batman let out an annoyed growl, which only frighten the man more. He turned and sprinted away in terror, nearly tripping over himself in the process. After he was gone, Bruce let out a sigh.

This was going to get old, fast.

* * *

The Red Hood leaned against a building, observing the street corner he currently occupied. A duffle bag rested by his feet.

Jason glanced down at his watch. The person he was supposed to meet was already five minutes late, and quite frankly he was starting to get worried.

Jason inhaled slowly and went back to admiring the Halloween decorations that adorned the shop just across the street. It was decked out with fake spiders, webs, pumpkins, and one of those animatronic dummy's that would make the average citizen pee themselves every time they walked by.

Jason couldn't help but smile, he enjoyed this season. As a child he had never really had the time or the means to enjoy it. Then after he became Robin, Bruce had taken him Trick-O-Treaking for the first time. Jason had found that he loved it. Then after his death and return, he just...hasn't celebrated it. He didn't have any reason to and he wasn't even sure he would still enjoy it.

Then slowly, Jason's siblings had reintroduced him to the holiday. He found he still liked it, he liked the candy, and the costumes, and the decorations and the overall spook factor.

At least some things didn't change.

Jason was snapped back into reality by the sound of someone running towards his direction. He knew who it was.

Jerry came sprinting around the corner, a wooden stake still clutched in his hands. The man came to a stop as soon as he saw Jason. He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees to catch his breathe.

"How'd it go?" Red Hood spoke in amusement.

"I think I pissed him off." Jerry panted. "I'm gonna be sick."

"I wish I could've seen his face." Jason said, to himself more than anyone.

"That's the last time I do anything for you, Hood." Jerry shot back, "He could've killed me." He added, sounding almost hysterical.

"Relax, Batman doesn't kill, remember." Jason replied.

"I don't know, man." Jerry straightened, giving Jason a weary look.

"What do you mean?" Jason inquired skeptically.

"There are stories." Jerry answered in a low tone.

"About?" Jason muttered, unconvinced.

"Well," He started, "They say their used to be this homeless kid who hung around Crime Alley."

Jason perked up at that.

"He's must've been crazy or something, because one day he tried to jack Batman's tires." Jerry continued.

"And?" Jason said impatiently.

"And they never saw him again!" Jerry cried.

At this point, Jason could no longer contain himself and he doubled over with laughter. Sure, he had always suspected not everyone knew what happened, but he didn't realize they thought he had died.

They weren't wrong, just a little bit early.

"Whatever, man. Believe what you want." Jerry muttered, "Just watch your back."

"Will do." Jason replied after he managed to contain his laughter.

Red Hood then reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. "Here," he handed it to the man.

"There's an extra 20 in there for your troubles." Jason added, "Maybe you can buy something nice for the kids."

"Thanks, man." Jerry spoke, pocketing the bills.

"Don't mention it." Jason answered.

"See you around." The other man said, "And be careful." Jerry began to walk away.

"Aren't I always." Jason teased.

Jerry let out a quiet laugh before turning the street corner.

After a moment, the Red Hood grabbed his duffle bag and retreated into a nearby alley. Jason took off his helmet and crouched down, unzipping the bag. It contained a cheap plastic goblet and a bottle of Hawaiian Punch.

Phase two of his plan had officially begun.

A few minutes later Jason was hiding in the shadows while Batman stared down a small gang a few feet away. Jason had once again removed his helmet and zipped up his jacket. His hair looked wild and unkept, and he had even added some pale makeup for extra effect.

The gang was prepared to lunge at the Dark Knight when Jason stepped out of the shadows.

"Here is your goblet of body temperature Type O, Batman!" Jason yelled dramatically. "I hope it's to your liking this time."

The entire gang froze, their eyes widening. Jason watched realization dawned on Bruce, then his features settled into a scowl. Jason could barely keep himself from grinning.

"I removed all my silver so it would not offend you." He continued, stepping closer.

He heard a few of the gang members whisper among themselves.

"The stories are true." One of them murmured.

"He'll drain us all." Another one chimed in.

"We need to go." One said to the leader.

Bruce quietly groaned.

"Stop spreading rumors." He spoke just loud enough that only Jason could hear. "Someone came at me with a stake and Holy Water earlier." Bruce added angrily.

Jason snickered.

"Drink, my lord, rejuvenate yourself." Jason continued, holding the goblet closer to him.

Bruce's scowl deepened.

The gang began to back away, and look for an escape route.

Jason leaned closer to the Bat and whispered, "Just do it, it's Hawaiian Punch."

After a Bat-eye-roll of epic portion, Bruce finally relented. He took the goblet and knocked it back, drinking it in one gulp.

"Ah, so much power." He exclaimed, his voice, loud, deep, and gravely.

At this point, the gang decided to cut their losses and make a run for it. Leaving an annoyed Bruce and a laughing Jason alone in the allay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I know I'm super late in posting this and I apologize. I've been so busy lately and to top that off my motivation took my muse hostage and ran away. But I'm back and here to post the final chapter!**

* * *

Red Hood and Batman walked side by side. Jason now wore his gear, and Bruce still wore a scowl. It had been several minutes since Jason had outed himself and he still hadn't stopped laughing.

"It's not funny." Bruce grumbled.

"It's the opposite of not funny," Jason argued, "It's hilarious."

You should've seen their faces." He added, "You should've seen _your_ face."

"Well, I'm glad you're amused, but the charade is over." Bruce replied. "It's time to hand over the suit."

"Oh come on, don't be such a party popper. Besides, it's my Halloween costume." Jason answered. "You wanted me to go trick-or-treating with the others, remember?

"You're going have to find a new costume then." Batman shrugged, as they turned a corner.

"That's just unfair." Jason murmured, though he wasn't entirely shocked.

"Hand it over, or I'll have Alfred come and collect it." Bruce threatened.

"Fine." Jason sighed, "I'll figure something else out." He added, a plan for his replacement costume already forming in his brain.

The two vigilante's started down a particularly dark backstreet, the distant sound of wings fluttering above them. They began to talk, and actually have a normal conversation for once. However, it was short lived, because they soon realized they weren't alone. Several feet in front of them were about a dozen people blocking their way. The most disturbing part was that neither Jason nor Bruce had heard them come up, which was highly unlikely all things considered. It was like they had just appeared out of thin air.

"Who are you?" Batman spoke firmly, his posture tensing.

"We mean you no harm." One of then stepped forward. "We only wish to know if the stories are true." The man continued. "We wish to know if the Batman is truly one of us."

"What do you mean?" Bruce questioned, suspicion in his tone.

The man opened his mouth wide, and the duo watched as two sharp fangs appeared.

"One of the undead." He informed. "We came in search of new hunting grounds, then we heard the rumors, the whispers. "

"Son of a bitch." Jason muttered. Sure, he knew that vampires were real, Bruce had even fought a few once. But he honestly hadn't expected 'Lenny's' story to be true.

"No, I'm not." Batman replied, his tone even.

"Would you consider joining us?" The vampire continued. "Think of it, you would never grow old. You could eradicate all the crime in this city, you could rule this city if you so chose." He droned on.

"What do you say, Batman?"

"Not a chance in hell." Bruce growled.

"What about you, Red One?" The vampire asked.

Jason rolled his eyes beneath in helmet. Why was it that bad guys always wanted him to either join them or fight Tim to the death?

"First off, it's Red Hood. Secondly, hard pass. I've been dead already, don't really care to give it another go." Jason answered, annoyed.

"Not dead. _Undead_." The vampire corrected.

"Still implies that I'm dead. Besides, I didn't claw my way out of a coffin just so I could end up sleeping in one everyday." Jason shot back.

"We don't sleep in..." The vampire trailed off, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Very well." The vampire replied, his tone smoother. "If you refuse to be the hunter, you will become the hunted." He announced, spreading his arms.

Behind him, a small crowd of glowing eyes lit up the dark alley.

"Drama Queen." Jason yelled, briefly wondering if a bullet between the eyes would have any effect.

An instant later, the small crowd surged forward.

"Find something you can use for a stake." Batman yelled, as he broke a wooden crate.

Jason spotted a wooden pallet a few feet away, it was old and rotting but it would have to do. The Red Hood fought his way through the horde and ripped off a board, spinning around to face the oncoming attack.

As he did, he caught a glimpse of Batman rapidly staking two of the vampires. They fell to the ground, immediately beginning to deteriorate. It was strange sight to see Batman dealing killing blows, but past experience had taught Jason that he was fine with killing vampires. His argument was 'you can't kill what's already dead.'

An instant later a vampire clawed at Jason, he blocked the attack, and shoved the rotting wood between it's ribs. He then ripped out the makeshift stake, accidentally breaking it off in the process. Another undead lunged at him, and be impaled it with his slightly smaller stake. It broke off again, leaving him with only a stub.

"Screw this." Jason muttered. If he kept this up, it was going up get him killed.

Jason beamed the stub at another vampire, fazing it for a moment. The Red Hood took a breathe, summoning his All-blades. The swords materialized in his hands and began to glow a bright orange. Everyone, including Batman, stopped and stared for a second. It was at that instant it occurred to Jason that he hadn't told Bruce (or anybody else in the family) about his time with the All-Caste.

The fight soon resumed and Jason shoved his sword through a nearby vampire. Batman and Red Hood soon finished the remaining undead with relative ease. As the last vampire fell, the they watched as it became nothing more than a pile of dust.

Jason let his blades dematerialize.

"This is why you don't spread rumors." Bruce scolded.

"How the hell was I supposed to know there were actually vampires in Gotham." Jason replied defensively.

Bruce just shook his head and turned to leave, "We need to make sure there aren't any more in the area." He called over his shoulder. "I'll take North then West, you take South and East."

Jason let out a small huff and nodded, preparing to leave. As he took to the rooftops he could've sworn he heard a voice say "And good work."

* * *

Bruce sat in the living room, skimming over the paper he had in his hands. Thankfully, any news about the Vampire Bat had now filtered out. Jason had handed over the suit and Gordon had released a statement saying that the whole thing was an elaborate prank. Which really wasn't a lie.

Batman hadn't found any more of the undead in his city, but he was still having everyone keep an eye out. In all honestly, Bruce was just happy to be putting all this vampire business behind him.

Alfred walked in, two mugs in hand. Bruce put down the paper and took one of the cups, the heat instantly seeping into his hands. Alfred kept the other one and began to sip it. Bruce glanced at it his watch, noting the time. The kids would be going trick-or-treaking soon and Bruce still wasn't sure what they were going as.

"Are they almost done?" He inquired.

"They are putting on their costumes right now." Alfred replied.

Bruce nodded and went back to reading his paper. A few moments later he saw Damian walk by in his preferal vision. He was wearing a Robin suit, which wasn't really all that out of the ordinary. Expect he was followed by Tim, Jason, and Dick. Bruce looked up to see all four boys dressed in different variations of the Robin suit. Dick being the only one wearing the scaly shorts.

That wasn't everyone though, after that came Stephanie, Cassandra, and Barbara all dressed in Batgirl costumes.

Bruce chuckled and shook his head, "You all look great." He stated. "Have fun and try not to get into trouble."

They replied with a round of assurances and goodbyes. Bruce was about to go back to reading when Jason spoke.

"Wait, we forgot the most important part of our costumes." He said a little too loudly.

Then all at once, the 7 of them put in sets of false vampire teeth.

"Come!" Jason exclaimed, "We must find blood for the Master."

With that, they all charged out the door, some of them hissing and others flapping their capes like wings. Bruce was about to protest, but by the time he spoke they were already out the door. He huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Calm yourself, Master Bruce." Alfred spoke, "They're merely having a bit of fun."

Bruce looked up at Alfred, only find the butler grinning with this own set of fangs.

"Oh, not you too." Bruce blurted.

Alfred let out a small chuckle. "Upon Master Jason's request." He answered.

"I must say, I do see why he finds it so amusing." Alfred added, taking them out and putting then away.

"It doesn't matter if it's amusing, what matters is last time it did this it attracted unwanted attention." Bruce countered.

"Yes," Alfred agreed, "But might I remind you that if he hadn't attracted that attention you might never have been aware of the threat at all." He added.

Bruce let out a sigh, Alfred had a point. As much as he hated to admit it, he hadn't had any idea, any suspicious, that there had actually been vampires.

"There is one more thing." Alfred spoke up, "Master Jason left this for you."

Alfred opened it palm to reveal a set of vampire fangs.

* * *

Jason Todd quickly and gracefully hurled himself from roof to roof, his siblings beside him. They had just scared the crap out of a few thugs and we're currently on their way to do some trick-or-treating. That was the beauty of their costumes, they had modified them where they could theoretically go patrolling if they so chose. Plus the vampire fangs really added a creepy flare.

A small smile rested on Jason's features, he was happy and he was enjoying himself even more then he had last year. It was strange how simply jacking off with his family could put a smile on his face and awaken a strange feeling in his chest.

"It's freezing out here!" Dick yelled as they ran, "Why did you guys let me leave like this?"

"Yeah, it's October. There's literally snow on the ground." Tim answered.

"Yeah, we tried to tell to put on pants." Stephanie chimed in, leaping from one rooftop to another.

"Why didn't I listen?" Dick lamented.

"Because you wanted to show off your freshly waxed legs?" Barbara teased, earning her an eye roll.

"I can't believe you actually used to wear those, Grayson" Damian criticized.

"Hey, I'm not the only one." Dick defended, gesturing to Jason.

"If you drag me into this, I swear I will this you off this roof ." Jason shot back.

Dick threw his head back and let out a cackle.

Then suddenly, Cassandra hurled a pair pants at Dick. The group ground to a halt.

"How did you..." Dick began.

"In here." She gestured to her candy sack, "Knew you would be cold."

"Dummy." She added playfully.

Dick stuck his tongue out at her but thanked her nonetheless. Just as Dick finished putting his pants on a figured landed behind them.

They all whirled out to find Batman's hulking form standing in the middle of the rooftop. For a moment Jason was a little disappointed, he suspected Bruce had come to give them some speech about 'spreading rumors.'

Except, he didn't say or do anything immediately. He just stood there almost...awkwardly. Then finally Bruce revealed the set of fangs Jason had left him. A chorus of giggles erupted from the group.

"I knew you'd come around." Jason grinned, suppressing his own laughter.

"Just this once." Bruce admitted begrudgingly.

Jason's smirk widened.

Bruce began to loosen up a little, Jason couldn't sworn he even saw a small smile.

"Now come, we have much to do." Bruce spoke in his best Dracula voice.

Laughter echoed through the night as the family of pseudo-vampires took off across rooftops.

If asked, Jason would never admit it to it, be he wouldn't have traded that moment for the world.

 _ **The End.**_


End file.
